[Digital Today reporter Dae-gun Seok (석대건)] Mplus has expanded its customer base, which had focused on electric vehicles and energy storage systems (ESS), into the defence industry. Mplus, a company specialising in secondary battery assembly equipment, said on Monday it signed a supply contract with a European global battery company, identified as Company A, for prismatic notching and stacking equipment.

Company A is a battery company founded in Europe and supplies industrial batteries for the aerospace, defence, medical, telecommunications, oil and gas, transport and utilities sectors. This is the first time Mplus has done business with a special-purpose battery company in the aerospace and defence fields.

The equipment to be supplied is the notching system and stacking system, which are core to the prismatic battery assembly process. Notching is the process of precisely cutting electrode rolls. Stacking is the process of layering the cut electrodes. Mplus explained that its ultra-high-speed notching and stacking equipment can reduce capital expenditure (CAPEX) and operating expenditure (OPEX).

Mplus said the order reflects a shift in demand. The market, which had centred on pouch-type EV batteries, is diversifying into prismatic ESS and special-purpose batteries for defence use. Mplus has been expanding its customer reach toward industrial special-purpose batteries, where safety and reliability standards are higher than in the mass-production market.

Mplus has a lineup of secondary battery assembly equipment for all form factors, including pouch, prismatic and all-solid-state. It is also pursuing new businesses such as autonomous mobile robots (AIMR) and autonomous control systems tailored to the physical AI era.

Mplus' first-half consolidated net profit was about 15.4 billion won, up 51.9 percent from a year earlier. Operating profit was about 14.2 billion won and the operating margin was 17.1 percent. Gross profit margin rose 3.7 percentage points from a year earlier to 28.2 percent. The company said the results came from its selective order strategy at a time of slowing EV investment.

A company official said, "This order is the result of our technological competitiveness being officially recognised by a global battery company in the aerospace and defence sectors." The official added, "Starting with this order, we will further strengthen cooperation with Company A and continue expanding our portfolio into high value-added markets such as defence and aerospace, based on a solid financial structure with 37.3 billion won in net cash."